BrentRichards
08-09-2008, 10:48 PM
I have been among the missing for several decades here, and with crazy life, not sure how much I'll be around any time soon, but thought I'd pop in for a quick update ...
Some news I thought some of you might be interested in: Some might recall that since October, I've been working as a counselor at a state prison. Three weeks ago, I took a new responsibility there, as a counselor on our SNU (Special Needs Unit -psychiatric, developmental, and physical challenges) and Sex Offender Treatment program (they are housed in two separate halves of the same cell block building). Aside from being the kind of treatment-oriented counseling I prefer doing, there are some nice perks ... one, the other counselor on the block is a wonderful lesbian woman who has been a blast to work with, and the environment has made it clear that I can safely be out there, which is nice.
Two, which is really kinda neat, is that we have a support group on the sex offender side for GBT men. It's not easy to be gay in prison (the rate of sexual victimization among gay inmates is MUCH higher, just for one thing), and it's particularly easy for gay men who are incarcerated for sex offenses to see being gay as why they are there. The focus of the group is: You're not here for being gay. Being gay is not the problem, it's okay, and you can choose to live a healthy gay life from this point on. We have about 6 men who regularly attend this group, and a few others on the block who are terrified to come to the group, but really need to. Most of them were never out before being incarcerated. Your prayers for them would be great!
Being involved with leading this group has been great for me so far. It almost feels like "pennance" for my history in leading an "ex-gay" group all those years ago.
I've missed being here ... as life continues to normalize (HA!) into a new routine, I'm going to try to get back here more often.
Some news I thought some of you might be interested in: Some might recall that since October, I've been working as a counselor at a state prison. Three weeks ago, I took a new responsibility there, as a counselor on our SNU (Special Needs Unit -psychiatric, developmental, and physical challenges) and Sex Offender Treatment program (they are housed in two separate halves of the same cell block building). Aside from being the kind of treatment-oriented counseling I prefer doing, there are some nice perks ... one, the other counselor on the block is a wonderful lesbian woman who has been a blast to work with, and the environment has made it clear that I can safely be out there, which is nice.
Two, which is really kinda neat, is that we have a support group on the sex offender side for GBT men. It's not easy to be gay in prison (the rate of sexual victimization among gay inmates is MUCH higher, just for one thing), and it's particularly easy for gay men who are incarcerated for sex offenses to see being gay as why they are there. The focus of the group is: You're not here for being gay. Being gay is not the problem, it's okay, and you can choose to live a healthy gay life from this point on. We have about 6 men who regularly attend this group, and a few others on the block who are terrified to come to the group, but really need to. Most of them were never out before being incarcerated. Your prayers for them would be great!
Being involved with leading this group has been great for me so far. It almost feels like "pennance" for my history in leading an "ex-gay" group all those years ago.
I've missed being here ... as life continues to normalize (HA!) into a new routine, I'm going to try to get back here more often.